Five boys aged 12 to 14 wept as they were found guilty today of killing a man whom they spat at, insulted and pelted with sticks and stones.

Ernest Norton, 67, was playing cricket with his son, James, on a Sunday afternoon when they were assualted [sic] with missiles from a gang of 20 children. Two stones, one the size of half a brick, struck Mr Norton on the temple and fractured his cheekbone. He collapsed to the ground with a heart attack.